I might be wrong but it appears that Twitter is mostly useful for reporters who want to write a story on something and find it easy to get quotes.
Whereas before this required traveling to the random place where the story takes place (with potential danger and hassle of travel), now they merely have to open twitter and find some random twat with an opinion on the subject. And presto - a quote is ready.
The problem, of course, is that the importance of the quote is greatly diminished and just 'someone with a twitter account thinks X'. If before the reporter actually had to go out and ask people for their opinions which presented an accurate view 'on the ground', now he's getting a view of the 'twitter-sphere' - which might have little bearing on views of affected population at large.
Before Twitter there was a phase where journalists would monitor discussion forums (think vBulletin). I know this because I would take part in speculative discussions and the next day it turned into front page news stories. No sources but obviously came from the discussion. It spooked me and made me realise that modern journalism was already becoming lazy.
I don't think it's zeitgeist only. Or at least, not on such a short scale. The pre-internet equivalent of that is interviewing random people on the street about current events, to fill the 2:30 of your news report with something vaguely related to the subject.
Whereas before this required traveling to the random place where the story takes place (with potential danger and hassle of travel), now they merely have to open twitter and find some random twat with an opinion on the subject. And presto - a quote is ready.
The problem, of course, is that the importance of the quote is greatly diminished and just 'someone with a twitter account thinks X'. If before the reporter actually had to go out and ask people for their opinions which presented an accurate view 'on the ground', now he's getting a view of the 'twitter-sphere' - which might have little bearing on views of affected population at large.